Louisville police officer faces fresh trial for shooting of Breonna Taylor

Detective Brett Hankison blindly fired 10 times into apartment

A former Louisville police officer will be retried over his actions on the night of the fatal Breonna Taylor raid.

Detective Brett Hankison blindly fired 10 times into an apartment where Taylor had been asleep during a botched police raid to serve a warrant in March 2020.

The death of the 26-year-old led to racial justice protests in the city and along with anger at the death of George Floyd, across the United States.

A jury last month was deadlocked on two counts of civil rights violations and using excessive force against Mr Hankison on the night of Taylor’s death.

The jury deliberated for 20 hours over four days in November, and US District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings declared a mistrial when the jurors said they had “concluded deliberating” and could not come to a unanimous ruling.

Tamika Palmer, mother of Breonna Taylor, poses for a portrait in front of a mural of her daughter at Jefferson Square park in 2020 (Getty Images)

Prosecutors told the judge on Wednesday that they want to re-try Mr Hankison “sooner rather than later.” The judge set a new trial date for October 2024.

The family of Taylor said after the mistrial that they were “disappointed” but were “here for the long game” and would continue to pursue justice.

Taylor was killed as the group of police officers tried to serve a search warrant related to an alleged drug dealer who lived 10 miles away.

When the Louisville Metro Police officers burst into the apartment, Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, shot at them, hitting Sergeant John Mattingly in the leg.

Mr Walker says he thought the couple were being robbed, with multiple officers returned fire, killing Taylor.

A federal trial heard that Mr Hankison, 47, had fired through a sliding glass door and windows with blinds into Taylor’s bedroom.

A jury was told that three bullets flew into a nearby apartment, where a couple lived with their five-year-old child.

At the end of a state criminal trial in March 2022, Mr Hankison was found not guilty of three counts of wanton endangerment stemming from the shots fired into the neighbouring apartment.

His actions on the night were described on the stand by LMPD officers as “shocking” and “unfathomably dangerous.”